Japan Press Weekly

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2015 June 10 - 16 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Ex-LDP heavyweights oppose Abe’s ‘security’ legislation

Four former executives of the Liberal Democratic Party on June 12 voiced their opposition to the enactment of the war legislation the Abe administration is determined to have passed.

Yamasaki Taku, former LDP secretary-general, said at a press conference that he believes providing “logistics support” is the same as allowing Japan to exercise de facto force and participate in combat operations. Both the Self-Defense Forces and their enemies will certainly suffer casualties, he warned.

The other three former LDP senior officials were Kamei Shizuka (former LDP policy chief, former financial services minister, and currently an independent member of the House of Representatives), Fujii Hirohisa (former chief advisor to the Democratic Party of Japan and former LDP secretary-general), and Takemura Masayoshi (former head of the dissolved New Party Sakigake). Takemura was also once an LDP member.

Yamasaki, Fujii, and Takemura announced in writing and Kamei verbally announced their statements, respectively, in opposition to the security legislation at the Japan National Press Club.

Yamasaki stated that it is unacceptable for the cabinet to change the constitutional interpretation Japan’s successive governments have adhered to, and that that would damage Japan’s national credo to remain a peaceful country.

Kamei pointed out that Japan is now facing the greatest crisis pertaining to the loss of postwar Japan’s national credo due to acts by the present cabinet.

The enactment of the security legislation will leave a negative legacy for Japan’s future, warned Fujii. Asked by the press about the reason why the Abe administration is rushing for the enactment of the bills, he commented, “The U.S. wants Japan to shoulder half the U.S. role as the world’s police, and Prime Minister Abe is easily accepting this role.”

Takemura stated that many countries in the world have placed trust in Japan with its exclusively “defense-only policy”. This policy itself has been the successful deterrence to any attack on Japan. The use of majority force in the Diet to take a forcible vote on such a controversial set of the bills won’t be acceptable to the general public, he added.

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The latest Jiji Press poll shows that 80.3% of respondents are opposed to or have negative feelings about any hasty enactment of the package of war bills while those who stated that the bills should become law within the current Diet session was only 13.6% of the total.

Past related articles:
> Ex-LDP executives strongly disapprove of Abe’s runaway policies [March 1, 2015]
> Abe’s initiative for legalizing use of collective self-defense right faces mounting public criticism and protest [May 17, 2014]